{"id":2162997,"date":"2026-09-25T12:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T09:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2162997"},"modified":"2026-09-25T12:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T09:17:16","slug":"bungie-says-marathon-flopped-because-it-was-too-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2162997","title":{"rendered":"Bungie Says Marathon Flopped Because It Was Too Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bungie has admitted that extraction shooter Marathon<\/a> failed at launch because it was too hard to attract a mainstream audience.<\/p>\n

Marathon was designed as an ultra hardcore PvPvE extraction shooter where repeated death was built into the risk \/ reward game loop. If you die, you lose all your gear. And not just what you looted while out on the battlefield, but what you brought in. And given how easy it was to die in Marathon, particularly in PvP situations, it could feel like a brutally punishing video game.<\/p>\n

Players certainly noticed this and made their feelings clear, even before Marathon launched. At the time, Bungie responded to concerns about its steep, unwelcoming learning curve to say that while the game was a \u201cdangerous climb,\u201d its difficulty could be overcome. The Sony-owned studio tried to make the point that players should play the long game, slowly improving their base stats and gaining access to better items by completing contracts and progressing faction upgrades. But unfortunately for Bungie, many players were immediately put off by the constant failure they experienced simply trying to get to grips with the game. The release of brutally difficult and complex endgame raid, Cryo Archive, in April only doubled down on the sense that Marathon was built for only the most hardcore of shooter fans.<\/p>\n

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Even former professional Counter-Strike player, Shroud, expressed concern about Marathon\u2019s difficulty, saying that while Cryo Archive offered an incredible experience, it was too hard for casual players. “Cryo Archive is insane,\u201d he said in April. \u201cIt’s the most elaborate extraction shooter map I’ve ever seen in a game ever. The loop that they made is truly something special. The problem is, is it too elaborate? Is it too complex? Is it too much of a grind? Is your 9-5 grandma and grandpa going to be able to do it? I don’t know.” <\/p>\n

Now, in detailing radical changes coming to Marathon<\/a> as part of Bungie\u2019s bid to save the game, developers have talked about what went wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaunch didn\u2019t go the way we wanted it to,\u201d Kevin Yanes, senior design lead, said in a new video. \u201cWe all built a game that we believed would resonate. But I think when you\u2019re so close to something it\u2019s hard to see the bigger picture objectively. And so we made a game that was overly difficult I think for a lot of folks. And that constant loop of failure I don\u2019t think spoke to as many people as we hoped it would.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile death is the first step for many players, death was the only step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Game director Del Chafe III called out Marathon\u2019s PvP, which he called \u201csweaty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we learned at launch is that our game is pretty niche,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s for sweaty people who like PvP. And, to be fair, a lot of us on the team like those experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all thought we were gonna bring extractions to the masses, and we didn\u2019t, right?\u201d Yanes added. \u201cWe built very much an extraction shooter as it was, as you\u2019ve ever seen one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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